There was nothing routine about the retirement at the Miami Herald this
month when Executive Editor John McMullan, 62, ended more than 30 years
of crusading against crime and exposing the permissive foibles of
Miami's hustlers, hoodlums and hoodwinking officeholders. If his
retirement was not exactly the end of an era, it was certainly a
milestone in Miami's 87-year history.

Under McMullan's one-man rule over both the news and editorial
departments, the Herald (circ. 443,000) often managed the difficult
feat of remaining fresh and...